Environmental groups seeking to force the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency to update its oil and gas drilling waste disposal rules asked a D.C. federal judge to keep industry groups and the North Dakota attorney general out of the suit, saying they have no standing to intervene.
Suzanne Murray, an attorney for the Texas Independent Producers & Royalty Owners Association, told Law360 on Thursday that this argument shows a fundamental difference between the environmental groups' position and that of TIPRO and the other intervenors.
She said this is not simply about deadlines, but about an entire interpretation of the agency's obligations under RCRA.
"We think we have an interest," Murray said Thursday, adding that to make the EPA go back and review those decisions would cause uncertainty and disrupt a regulatory scheme that's already been approved.
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